"This fascinating must-read for gardeners, growers and sustainability-minded food-lovers digs into the intriguing secret histories of vegetables."
An avid gardener since childhood, author Adam Alexander here shares his deep passion for, and knowledge of, the history of endangered “heritage vegetables”, enthusiastically explaining why we need to keep growing them, and revealing how vegetables are inextricably bound to the political landscape. The Seed Detective resounds with the zest of personal anecdotes, and has fascinating anthropological scope.
The author’s calling as a seed detective came during a 1988 film-making project in Ukraine when he became smitten by a fruit that “literally changed my life”. The fruit in question was Capsicum annuum, a “sweet pepper with a fiery heart” that set him off growing and sharing its seeds back home.
After contextualising why we need to save seeds, and highlighting problems brought by the industrial revolution, urbanisation and globalisation, and the need for a Green Revolution, the author shares details on the global histories of particular vegetables, among them peas, broad beans, and asparagus. The chapter on the Welsh leek is particularly fascinating as it explores the leek’s connections to Wales, but also traces its history back to Egypt and Mesopotamia some 4500 years ago.
The book ends with a rousing chapter on “seeds of hope”, outlining the positive shift to “re-learning traditional ways to produce food”. At the same time, Alexander points out a need for greater food equality, observing an “increasing divergence between those who can afford to eat organic and sustainably produced healthy food and those who can only afford the very cheapest and poorest quality [food]”.
Alexander’s storytelling skills from his work as a film and television producer are on radiant display here, making The Seed Detective an engaging, rewarding must-read for gardeners, growers, food-lovers, and those fascinated by the history and politics of food.
Ever wonder how peas, kale, asparagus, beans, squash and sweetcorn ended up on our plates? Well, so did Adam Alexander.
Adam Alexander is The Seed Detective. His passion for vegetables was ignited when he tasted an unusual sweet pepper with a fiery heart while on a film-making project in Ukraine. Smitten by its flavour, Adam began to seek out local growers of endangered heritage and heirloom varieties in a mission to take home seeds to grow and share so that he could enjoy their delicious taste - and save them from being lost forever.
In The Seed Detective, Adam shares his own stories of seed hunting, with the origin stories behind many of our everyday vegetable heroes. Taking us on a journey that began when we left the life of the hunter-gatherer to become farmers, he tells tales of globalisation, political intrigue, colonisation and serendipity - describing how these vegetables and their travels have become embedded in our food cultures.
'We are a nation of vegetable growers', says Adam, 'and this book explores the wonderful world of rare and endangered heritage and heirloom vegetables - and why we must keep growing them and saving their seed, not only for our gardening and culinary pleasure, but to pass these stories on - vegetables are truly our history on a plate.'
The Seed Detective features in the following genres: Gardening, Lifestyle, Hobbies and Leisure, Nature and the natural world: general interest, Cultural studies: food and society, Cookery / food by ingredient, Cookery / food by ingredient: fruit and vegetables, Gardening: plants and cultivation guides, Gardening: fruit and vegetable, Natural and wild gardening, Trees, wildflowers and plants: general interest, Cultural studies, Cultural and media studies, Society and culture: general, Society and Social Sciences, Cookery, Food and Drink, Specialised gardening methods
The Seed Detective is available in Paperback, Hardback
The Seed Detective was written by Adam Alexander and published by Chelsea Green Publishing
The Seed Detective has 320 pages
£17.09
